Behind The Masks
by Armonizzare
Summary: Inside a castle, each sharing a goal. When people figure its kind to 'change the rules' a little bit, how will they react? Will they break a long chained tradition? (ON HIATUS)
1. Chapter 1

"The 20 foolish teenagers walk into a dark palace cloaked in the veil of moonlight, stenched with the smell of blood. Each had the same goal in mind. "Seize the castle, for the glory". However, the way to seizing the castle wasn't easy- to gain control of this area, you had to play a Game. This Game was one of lies, deception, dances and duels, and trust. A grim smile on their faces, they walk into the castle gates, and they slam shut behind them with a shadowy thud.

* * *

 _In the throne room, a old, pretty woman plays with a few letters, opening and closing them like a child playing with dolls. The end was coming for her, and she knew it. Looking around at the 6 portraits of the previous owners, she smiled and remembered: a man known for magic, who had ended them all with a blast; a shaky coward who had let the others fight to the death while he hid; a dirty strongman with the ability to intimidate anyone he wished; a Poisoner, who had ruined the lives of the others slowly and surely; a holy fool who had claimed that his gods had given him enough power to kill them all, and had succeeded (His gods didn't exist though), and finally, her own young golden face, a devious little witch who had used others secrets to make them kill each other helplessly. Even if she must die, she would die with a smile. As these castle's portraits aren't your usual portraits...they hold the past in a way cleaner than books. With a final gaze, she slipped away, thinking of the past, and with the ghost of her final thoughts etched on her face, worn with regret. "Save them, please. Save them all"_

* * *

The 20, now in the ballroom, each having picked up a mask. They all knew the rules of this game, and the curse this castle held. 'If you break the rules of the progression monarchy within this castle, the phantoms will have their last laugh with you. But the jokes on _**YOU**_ "

Challenges to dance and to duel would soon fly, but for now, they engaged in a nice calm banter, wearing their masks as a shield for their identity. Identities shown could change the laws of this, and the masks had been a castle rule since the 1st game.  
Bejeweled faces stared into one another, trying to figure out the others the ways to kill them. It'd never be easy, but hope is never lost when it comes to this game- its only replaced by the determination to go on.

But finally, watching them all, were 4 portraits of 4 girls, portraying two sins and two virtues. Patience, Wrath, Humility and Pride. The four elements that would play a part. With shadowy eyes, the painting stared, waiting for the time to welcome their twist of this.

And so, the game shall begin.

 _"Hello, my old friends. I've come to see you again. Shall we watch this? With **them,** this'll certainly be the best one the others have seen! The NEW game! A new change of the mutual killing!_

* * *

 _ **Well, boys and girls- this is Behind The Masks! A DR story, despite the backstory that isn't the mutual game we all desbearingly know and love!**_  
 _ **Should I explain this backstory? Noooppppe I'm not. It'd be mean to reveal the whole story in the intro.**_

 _ **Now, rules for this.**_  
 _ **1\. The talents should have a medieval theme to this, but there's a few talents that are BANNED. The Ultimate Princess/Prince (This should be obvious *cough* Sonia Nevermind *cough*), and the Ultimate King/Queen (These ones won't fit into the story).**_

 _ **2\. NO Mary Sues or Gary Stus. If I see one, I will kill it with fire. Or suggest nerfs to it to make it less perfectionish**_

 _ **3\. There are 20 slots. 10 boys and 10 girls. I am not against transgenders and genderqueers or girl and hermaphradites.**_

 _ **4\. This is NOT first-come, first serve. Its accepted or denial. I will be picky about these characters, but not overly strict or rude. That's called being a dick, guys.**_

 _ **5\. The Protagonist will be picked by...moi! I will choose who matches the person I have in mind for the role, so no asking. :3**_

 _ **6\. Fill out everything, pleaaase. The only thing I'll allow not to be filled in is their mask.**_

 _ **FORM:**_

 _ **Name: [Warning, this name won't actually be used much. I'll explain this if I accept your character. Also, this doesn't have to be Japanese, as long as you explain it. ]**_

 _ **Age: [Preferably between 16-18, but be sensible.]**_

 _ **Talent: (Thank globalisation for reminding me that I forgot this. xd)**_

 _ **Personality:**_

 _ **Sexuality:**_

 _ **Race:**_

 _ **Gender:**_

 _ **Appearance:**_

 _ **Clothes:**_

 _ **Which Animal would you choose for your character to wear as a mask?: [THIS. IS. IMPORTANT. I can make it up for you, but I'd rather you do it yourself]**_

 _ **Backstory:**_

 _ **Likes:**_

 _ **Dislikes:**_

 _ **How are they going to react to a rule change of this game that they know?:**_

 _ **Family:**_

 _ **Pick an everyday object that someone can either wear or hold: [This is also fucking important to what I'm doing. :3]**_

 _ **Ability at dancing and duelling?: (1-10, 1 for worst, 10 for best.)**_

 _ **If they died, what would they leave behind for the others?:**_

 _ **This'll be in my bio, and so, enjoy this! Also, be gentle, senpai. This is my first fanfic, and while I have a basic plot planned and some new mechanics, this should be a wild ride for you and me.**_

 _ **Also, if you're confused at some things, most of it will be explained later, like why the character's names won't be used much, and other shit.**_

 _ **~Armonizzare**_


	2. Cold Face, Cruel Heart

**Well, I'm starting the show! Thanks to everyone who submitted an OC! _I'm sorry to the few people who's OC's I rejected, but I did say I was gonna be strict with my choices. They were all good though._**

 **Now, our** **protagonist has been decided. This OC belongs to Vivid Nemesis!**

 **Finally, before I shut up and get on with this, thanks to the reviewers. You guys helped to give me motivation to write this. :3**

* * *

Calm voices echoed around the room, as people laughed and joked. A wacky girl with a crazy sense of humor was leading the show, with the others following her laughter. It was clear that she was here for fun, and didn't care about the mutual killing that would soon arise. However, not everyone joined in with a little bit of cheerfulness before their mutual killing game started- 3 lone rangers had stayed out of the peaceful banter.

Watching around over the faces of glee, hidden beneath the smiles, careful glances spied a few lone rangers hanging around from the sides. Departing from the crowd to see people behind, there were a Fox and a Ferret, on opposite sides of the room, alone. Moving closer, it was obvious they hadn't got along well, as the Ferret was spilling a choice string of foul language about the Fox from his mouth. Most of it involved language that could embarrass a sailor, it was that bad.

Through the mask, he had a glimmer of childish mischief in his eyes, and his hair was a jet black mess, sticking out left, right and center- it even flung over the tips of an elaborately made ferret mask. In a unnaturally sweet way, his mask of a cute and funny animal contrasted like day and night to what he was doing right now- it could even be called irony.

The fact that his ears were pierced with silver, and he had scrapes and bruises along his thighs, but if there were more, it was hard to tell. Those only added to the irony of him using the ferret as his mask choice. Everyone else would have likely chosen one according to their personality, like herself- the Otter. She was a happy-go-lucky and playful teen, like her mask-sake. and The Fox seemed like another prime example of what she was thinking. However, looks couldn't be everything, he's probably just mad at the Fox for a reason or two. Still, it was better to back away than interrupt, as it was more likely she'd make it a lot worse than how it started if she butted in. Instead, she found it easier to talk to the Fox, who was apparently watching a painting.

"Um..hello?" she tried to ask, but to her surprise, the Fox had ignored her. Well, she was busy staring at a painting, as if she was entranced by the portrait of a shadow being hung by a bloody noose under the moonlight. It was pretty damn creepy.

"Hello?" she asked again. It was worth a shot, she thought.

"I'm sorry, but what do you want?"

The Fox had listened this time, and had wheeled around, taking a not so sly glance at the painting again. She had her arms folded and an angry look in her eyes, yet the rest of her looked emotionless and empty. She had pinned black hair, to her waist, and was kind of short, but that was probably because of her own height at 175cm. Her outfit consisted of a classic equestrian costume- a white collared shirt with red accents at the hem covered by a black tail coat. It looked kind of out of place in a castle, but to be honest, there were worse. She also had white pants and black riding boots. No need for sherlock, this Fox was a what she had heard from the past, she was the best Jouster in Japan. The sound of her voice had confirmed it. Frankly, she didn't want to be around someone who was amazing with a lance in battle, but she wanted answers to try and stop the Ferret and Fox from silently hating eachother.

"Do you know why the Ferret is whispering obscenities about you under his breath?" Now, this wasn't the best way to put it, but looking at her, it was probably best to get straight to the point and not sugarcoat it with lies.

"If I have to be honest, I do. But its kinda his own fault I made him do that. Boys should know better to not poke in someone's business, " A small trace of a smile flashed across her lips, at her own snarky comment "But whats done is done." The Fox left, gliding across the floor cleanly, obviously looking for another portrait. It was useless trying to talk to her, she guessed.

The Fox had such an eloquence surrounding her, a grace. The jouster was an interesting player in this game. However, that only made her think of her own completely forgettable features. Even though she had a generic face, she herself had her own quirks, like her own eyes- a hypnotising shade of amber, like you get in the first rays of a sunset.

But now was not the time for wallowing around with herself. In the game she knew, murders could happen at any moment, so exploring the castle should be her first priority, as to find places to hide, as even though she was prepared and light on her feet, she was not fond of violence.

Something that caught her eye, actually was only a mere 5 meters away...

Lying on the floor, was a bamboo flute, known as a Shakuhachi. It very nearly broke her heart to find the instrument seemingly abandoned on the floor. Attached to it, was a little note, written in cursive that read,

 _Save them, save them all. This game is not the same. Its despair, not a game this time._

Something was definitely wrong with this. Maybe it was the fact that the instrument's letter had repeated the last laugh of the previous queen that had been whispered through the wind. There were possibilities galore with who could've written this note, and how they knew the game had changed. It was most likely the previous queen. But should she heed her warning? Her judgement failed her.

Still, it could take her mind off things- she definitely wasn't her optimistic self. Maybe this could make her feel better. She picked up the bamboo flute and prepared to play a tune...

But before she could play the first note, a clear voice rang out, soft and pretty. Definitely feminine, from the looks of it.

"Hello? Is this thing on? Can you guys hear me?"

* * *

 **Ok, I ignored _at least_ half of the original SYOC submission for the protagonist...don't kill me, Vivid . :3**

 **Also, sorry that this was short and hastily written, its definitely NOT my best, but this was the best way I could do this chapter without dragging it on and on. I swear the next one will be better than this one. It should be out by next week, unless I get writers block.**


	3. Psychos, Psychos Everywhere

**Well, I'm apparently not dead. Yay! And holy shit, I didn't get yelled at for my terrible chapter. Pinch me, I'm dreaming. (Don't actually pinch me, I don't wanna wake up :3)**

* * *

"Hello? Is this thing on? Can you guys hear me?"

Questions arouse like wildfire. "Who the hell are you?" a voice yelled, with an obvious tone of snarkiness.

"Would you like the kinder response, or the ruder response?" the feminine voice said again, clearly taking the question harshly.

The owner of the voice paled, and grumbled under their breath, "That's my line..."

"Shut up, its mine now. Now, I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but can you please back away from the paintings. I'm not sure which one, so please step back from any of them."The Fox had followed orders and backed away from one of someone getting eaten by a beast. No one else did. She wasn't near a painting herself, the closest one was a picture of an eagle burning to death- those paintings were damn creepy.

From another painting, the hanging shadow that had been there before, the painting swung across to reveal a passage, with two girls, one black and one white, skipping around. One held a tray, with some seemingly random items on it. The other held something that would've scared the shit out of someone, if it wasn't in an already fucked up castle- they held an unconscious dude. The Ferret before got pushed aside and a kick up the arse from the black girl, who was carrying the tray- he was in the way. Well, he did deserve it.

The unconscious dude was thrown on the floor, pretty brutally. On closer look, he was wearing an innocent deer mask. his blue hair was spread wildly, with streaks left and right and cyan and white. His brown eyes were glassy, and his left one had a freaky sort of cotton ball near the iris. He obviously wasn't dead. After that evaluation, the white girl sashayed off through the painting passageway, while the black one stood at here patiently - still holding the tray. She spoke calmly, with an edge of authority, "Pick one gift from the castle. They're yours to keep." Then she placed the tray down daintily, and followed her partner through the portrait, with the painting door swinging shut after them.

Despite all common sense telling her that this was a trap, she found herself curiously drawn to the gift of a red ribbon with silvery patterns on it that imitated ivy in the breeze during wintertime. The gift was long enough to be tied neatly around a neck without risk of strangulation and she tied it nicely around her neck.

Others had definitely shared the same feeling and had picked things, like a durable rope, a boot (for some reason) and some silver lockets.

Figuring she should try and figure out her opponents in the game- it was going to change, according to the warning, so it should be beneficial to find the others to see if they had any clue on what 'despair' would happen. The first idea she had was to check out the unconscious guy on the floor.

Someone else had the same idea. He was the one who had picked the boot, and was currently chucking it at the guy. That must hurt. Well, it did work. After 5 or so whacks with the boot to the head, he was up with a start- and a slashing knife.

"Woah! Calm it. For mine and her sake. " The boot-thrower exclaimed. His mask of a Crow was shaking wildly, threatening to fall off. His appearance, however, despite his good intentions, screamed _I'm going to kill you at some point._ With piercing green eyes, dead straight ashy blonde hair and a barely hidden cold smile, he wasn't looking like someone you could trust and not get stabbed in the back by.

She turned back, afraid. Her original aim had calmed down, thankfully, and had stashed his knife somewhere invisible. His deer mask was innocent and kind, and so was what he looked like. It was simple and sweet, with browns and yellows on his coat, shirt and trousers, which the latter had been through a lot- patches and holes littered it, along with a belt that held a buckle that was perfectly capable of blinding someone if at the right angle.

She wasn't sure how to start this, as there was a lot she wanted to know. "Do you k-know why you're here?" It was kind of scary, being there with someone who could kill her, as he had revealed a weapon. He also looked very volatile, which was never a good thing.

"No, sorry. I don't even know where the hell I am." He was strangely calm about it...

This lovely conversation was ruined by a certain informative female voice again.

"Please make your way to the throne room, please."

Orders were followed after seeing the nicely executed kick up the arse (It likely wasn't going to be that nice next time, anyway) the Ferret got, so she and the other emptied where they were quickly.

After sometime getting severely lost, they had made it to the room, where on the seat, sat a girl dressed completely in white, accept for lilac plaited hair. she had a beautiful white dress, with patterns one could get lost in for hours, and that looked as if they held a message in cipher. Mysterious as hell and looking as sweet as sugar, but she gave off a definite thought of her being a wolf in sheep's clothing.

People started talking (was there anything else to do?), and she went up to two people, in a butterfly and giraffe mask. The former was cringing, obviously not impressed by the giraffe, who was making some truly terrible jokes.

"This is panda-monium, am I right?" That confirmed it - the Giraffe would be a millionaire if 1 bad bear pun= a dollar.

"You otter be ashamed of yourself, that was just bad."

"You have to be kittening me, that was even worse."

"Thats otter be the sealiest thing I've ever heard"

Plugging in her ears to stop the urge to bang her head into a wall, the two looked fairly interesting.

The Giraffe had shocking green hair, (obviously dyed, nobody would have that sort of wacky hair naturally) with red, twirling down from the back. It looked like her hair was a Christmas tree, with red tinsel draped around it. She also wore a black sleeveless top, adorned with a pastel polkadotted tie, but (worst of all) a purple and orange striped skirt. It was hard to tell what was more wacky- her appearance or her puns.

The Butterfly was a lot less neon and bright, or if she had to put it in one word, pastel. She had beautiful black hair, braided back into two. Her dark eyes told a story of mystery, with an imaginative gleam inside. Her dress was a breezy shade of blue, like the sky on a clear summers day. For her age, she was tall, around 6"0, with the heels. She looked like herself, but with differences, like the fact that she preferred to have her own long brown hair in an elegant bun.

"HOLY SHIT. NEXT PERSON TO MAKE A FUCKING STUPID ANIMAL PUN DIES. EVEN THOUGH I HAVEN'T GIVEN YOU SHITS ORDERS, IT DOESN'T MEAN YOU CAN PISS OFF YOUR MAIN HELPER FOR THIS TIME HERE. " The girl wasn't happy with the puns, obviously. She was fuming mad, infact. Her face had gone beet red, and she was reaching behind her from the throne, and she could see a gleam of cold metal from there. Both the Giraffe and the Butterfly had scattered at that threat.

 _"Why couldn't you have just followed our script, and not acted like a fool? You ruined it all!"_

* * *

 **Shut up, yes this was early. Is being early on a story chapter not allowed in a fanfiction environment?**

 **Ok, I got way too hyped and started writing near non stop, so thats why I'm uploading like 3 days early to what I originally planned. GG me. .-.**

 ***shameless advertising, fuck it***

 **And finally, before I'm out to start writing some more, thank InsaneCreations 3.0 for looking over most of this, he's pretty damn cool.**


	4. Mini Marionettes

**_Oh, by the way, if I haven't introduced your character yet, I'll say this. I'm kinda a pain when it comes to flow, and 19 all in 1 chapter seems awkward and rushed- that's the one thing I normally dislike in fanfics. So they've been spaced out, into around 5 chapters.I've been trying to add more characters into one when it comes to this, but I still have 13 to introduce... So yeah, with how I'm doing it, it'll take a while. Also, warning you now, 1 proper OC will be introduced this chapter-JUST 1. I'll explain at the end of this._**

 ** _Now, I'll be quiet and stop rambling._**

* * *

"Well, sorry for that outburst, but you've got to be kidding me with those. Now, let me explain what we're doing. You know the main rules, don't you?"

A chorus of "Yes" came from everyone.

"Now, time for some new rules, for this only. First, Tap dancing is NOT to be redefined as 'First one to kick the other in the balls wins'. Second, Be polite. You know where we are. That means no hardcore swearing, you got me? " She rolled her eyes at this, "Third, be nice to Neko, that's me, and the helpers around the castle."

So, her name was Neko. Didn't that mean cat? It didn't really make sense for her, but she knew it was really rude to be questioning names. Even if it did sound weird, it was oddly fitting for her. She was cute, like a cat, but has a darker side. That darker side was definitely shown earlier, at her rage toward the animal puns.

"Who the fuck are they?" the Giraffe yelled. Either she had really bad hearing, or she had ignored the no hardcore swearing. That was a bad idea, considering that Neko had something resembling cold metal, and it was certain that it wasn't going to be used for nice purposes, like chopping vegetables.

"May I kindly remind you that words like fuck and shit aren't deemed polite. I'll be nice to you annoyances and let you use damn and hell, but that's it!" Neko had definitely taken a negative impression to the Giraffe, as her voice had an underlying tone of anger, despite attempts to make it sound polite and formal. Even if it didn't have that tone, it would've still been obvious she was mad, as her face was bright purple and steam looked as if it was coming out of her ears.

"Still, you reminded me of something I forgot," Neko had restarted, and was a lot calmer now. "Hey guys! They're not going to hurt you, come out you little munchkins!" Kind of a 180 in emotions, but with how quickly she had been changing them before, she felt as if that was going to be something she'd have to get used too.

At that, 24 people came out, with the black girl and white girl before, each with a male dressed like them leading the crowd of 'helpers'. Then, following them, was 20 little wooden children, or at least they looked like little kids. Each had a mask painted onto them, some with the same mask as some of the people around her, such as a beautiful puppet was wearing a white fox mask, like the icy jouster who was expressionless at the sight of the moving little marionettes.

"Don't ask how they move. Its just been like this the whole time in the castle. One will be assigned to you, by what item you chose. You'll see them tonight. Well, the 20 little ones are for that purpose. Those black and white duos? They're there to make sure you don't go trying to murder someone in broad daylight."

That was a kind explanation. And murdering people in broad daylight? That was strange. In the game that they all knew, all the killing eachother was in the day. A twist to change it up? Or something different? Only time would tell.

"Also, they'll be there with you in like, 30 minutes. It's getting late you know, so it would be a good idea to pick out a room from the towers. Boys are in Truth Tower, Girls are in Lies Tower. We set out bathrooms and stuff for you guys beforehand, so things should be okay. Let your marionette know if you have problems. "

The boys weren't happy about this, and they had split off into their own little group, muttering things that were indecipherable. They did seem to be plotting something despicable, by the looks of their cold glances at the girls around boys. Still, it wouldn't hurt to assume they weren't pissed off, even if the truth glared her right in the face.

"The tower doors have been opened, by the way. Truth's door is the Hanged Man's portrait, and Lies door is the Beauty and the Beast portrait. Have fun, and I'll be watching you idiots. Oh yeah, you're not allowed to be in the other gender's tower. Only exception to this is the puppets. "

Everyone departed out of the throne room, and she made her way to the ballroom, where they had been before. The place looked calm and peaceful, unlike the ruckus that had appeared here before. A cute- but likely deadly- Weasel opened the door the same way the dolls had done before and led the way in.

The Lies tower was eerie and quite a bit spooky, but had a warm feeling to it, with golden chandeliers dotted around. Luckily, it also had less creepy paintings- well, painting. It was a picture of 10 girls and boys with guns in a battle. It wasn't very serious though, as the battle looked more like a water gun fight instead.

"I call top room, guys." The Weasel was very happily running up a staircase that stopped at different floors, not even bothering to stop to talk. Others were following her up, though lower down was going to be more simple to get down, as it'd be less of a walk on the staircase. Eventually, even if she wanted too, she wouldn't have gotten any high places- they all had been claimed.

Still, lower ones were available, and with her, was a frail girl in a wheelchair. "Hey. Mind moving out the way? Quickly, if you don't mind."  
Holy hell. She was blunt, for someone that could barely walk.

She had wild brown hair tied up in a ponytail, with a goose quill stuck in it. Like her, she had messy bangs that framed her face, as well. However, her eyes, just a pretty chocolate brown, were different. She had a mask of a Sparrow, matching her colours beautifully.

Well, she assumed the bottom 2 were available- the one on the ultimate floor, that you don;t need to use the staircase for, and the 1st one. Since she was in a wheelchair, and the staircase didn't seem to have wheelchair support, she decided to go up to the first floor, when she heard a very harsh voice yell.

"UGH. Why do I have to be stuck with the paraplegic? Stupid silver locket!" It was the pretty little fox masked puppet from earlier. Her black twintails were jumping around violently and her gothic lotitia dress looked as if it was stained with everything in this castle involving blood or some sort of crazy piece of hell?

She whirled around to see what was going to go down, as by the tone of the doll, she wasn't here for kindness and laughter.

"That's really rude, you know. I thought there was a rule to be polite, mind you." The Sparrow obviously wasn't impressed with that comment. To be fair, she wouldn't have taken that lightly if that was directed at her.

"Miss Alchemist, even if you've figured out the secret to eternal life, I can still kick your ass in a fight. I don't even care that you're in that thing, I know you can walk anyway." The doll had retorted nicely. Suppressing the urge to go 'FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT', she stayed and watched.

Soon, whoops of laughter came from outside, and the doll ran for it, back where she came through- surprisingly enough, through the painting of the water gun battle. But later, she emerged, holding a water gun, and with a grim smile on her face. She was joined by 9 other dolls, 7 of which were boys, and the other two girls. All of them were holding a gun and, while the 3 girls had ran to the door, the boys had stood fast in a line, pushing the Sparrow back.

"Do you know what the f is going on?" She hadn't dropped the blunt attitude, despite that something not very pleasing was going to go down, like a huge waterfight. She didn't know either, and that wasn't very relieving to either of them.

"GOTCHA!" A yell resounded in the air, coming from the lotitia doll. The snarky tone was unmistakeable. "Now march, or you're soaked. I said, MARCH!"

Soon, the 3 female dolls had came back, having captured a bunch of boys, who were holding water balloons and binoculars. Peeping toms. Typical, of hormonal teenage boys. She could barely hold back a giggle at what she saw.

The lotitia doll was on the right side of the gaggle, with a crazy parrot girl on the left, and a cold lion girl following behind the pack. Soon the boys were surrounded by the dolls, with no way of escaping. Even worse for them, the other girls upstairs had heard the commotion and were coming down.

One of the boys, with golden hair, was telling us that we could choose the boy's punishment for being here. We could choose between dressing them up in something silly, forcing them to play 'Spin the Bottle', or setting the dolls loose on them with their waterguns.

The Giraffe put up a chant of dressing them up in something silly, and the rest of us bandwagoned. But still, they got soaked, because as the lotitia doll put it, "They needed an excuse to get changed, didn't they?"

After that quick discussion, the cold lion girl spoke up. "Nelly, go get Californian and Rick. We need to talk with those nutjobs."

The gothic girl, or Nelly, said ran through the painting door, after saluting.

"Sorry for that, we've got to take desperate measures when the nutjobs let those guys loose. Let me explain a few things. I'm the boss around this tower, and my name is Zaria. That girl who was arguing with the Sparrow was Nelly, as I've just sent her off. Just saying, she prefers to be called Aveline- don't know why. And the parrot is Ariana. Since this is the Girl tower, us three can boss the boys around all we like. But now's not the time. Gareth can introduce you to the rest of the gang once we've punished the boys sufficiently." The lion girl was lecturing us- even if it was boring, it helped.

Nelly- or Aveline, had returned, dragging a red haired jester by his ear and walking along with another black haired girl, with her hair tied into pigtails.

"Before you ask, Rick was the one who let them do that. I did warn them though, " The girl had gotten straight to the point, and had smacked the jester up the back of the head. "And I'm letting you guys punish those, but I'll stay for the laughs."

Grumbles erupted from the boys, who weren't happy at all with the choice of them being dressed up. A common word was "Now look what you did, dumbass!" and pushing and shoving a blond haired Puppy around. It seemed as if it was him who had tried to attack with the water balloons. He looked as if he was perfectly innocent, and despite the shoves, kept his head up high, and playfully shoved them back.

She wondered what each of them would look the funniest in...

* * *

 _ **Shut up, yes this is gonna be fun to write. xD *muahahaha*** **Sorry for making you wait for the boys being dressed up, but that's how I roll.**_

 _ **Also, reason why I didn't introduce so many like I did last time...**_ _ **The next chapter is gonna hold a shit ton of them, and I needed to build up the situation. Plus, I couldn't leave you guys hanging with the dolls. And oh yeah, before you guys kill me...**_

 _ **I know Nelly is similar to Celestia Ludenberg, but hear me out with the chapters when I say that she's NOT a complete copy. Its only the looks. Looks, not what is inside.**_


	5. Not What You're Looking For

_**Just for the record, I don't have an obsession with Celestia Ludenberg, no matter what InsaneCreations3.0 tells you. Its bullshit, all of it. :3**_

* * *

"So, who's first?"

We didn't even need to decide, as the trapped boys had pushed forward the Puppy, who wasn't fighting back. Probably because it was best to get it over with, as they weren't going to get out of that.

"Awww, I wanted to save him for last. Pick your favourite outfit for him, I'll be back in a mo."

The lotita doll had ran into an open painting, and had come out, holding two outfits. One, was a ballerina outfit with a bright pink tutu with special decorations. The other was a suit, tie, monocle and top hat, with an extra cane thrown in.

"Hey, I'll make him tap dance if you pick the suit." Aveline offered. Tap dancing or ballet? Tough choice. She prefered ballet, as the tune was more peaceful and easier to play on the instruments. A minstrel had to have a favourite type of music to play, and that was hers.

"Its not funny 'till you add a moustache!" the Giraffe yelled.

"Fine. Moustaches for both as well" Aveline grouchily agreed, and pulled out a fake moustache from the suit pocket.

"Now it is funny! Lol!" The Giraffe was a wacko, but her heart was definitely in the right place. She might be a Jester or a Fool, judging by her actions.

Soon, every one of the girls had pointed to the ballerina, and she had dragged him into the portrait door, while she giggled at the thought of seeing the likely ringleader being in a ballet costume.

Then, he was dragged out, with bows and sparkles all over his face. He was clearly not enjoying the humiliation. Even the others had rolled over laughing at his stupid costume of pink, pink and more pink. Ashamed, he ran off to his own tower, after the water gun armed puppets let him go.

"So, who's next?"

Time flew by, and different costumes for the boys flew out. Funnily enough, a grouchy grizzly bear was stuck in a hamster costume (he did look rather cute). He was thin as a twig and barely 6 foot tall, with his green eyes looking like a hamster's, in a strange way. Kinda cute.

Soon, the last one left was the Deer from earlier, and boy did they have something planned for him. He was in the portrait for ages, and came out wearing a cute little cat costume, with bells and everything. He even had big fake paws and whiskers on.

"Here kitty kitty!" "Want some milk?" "Meow meow!" were common shouts between the girls, and the puppets alike. To be honest, to her, it was incredibly funny seeing him try to escape the teasing taunts of the others, and failing miserably. The puppets weren't letting him run off. She knew it was mean, but seriously, it was adorable on him. If that was a real cat, she'd probably like it.

But after that, he was dragged by a collar out of there, and they were left alone. She quietly judged the girls around her, that weren't already known while having a bit of fun.

"Who was your favourite? I think the Ferret did a nice job in the suit and tie. He can't even tap dance to save his life!" A Panda was giggling heavily, donning an ashy and burned apron under a green shirt. Her black hair stuck up a little, like a dogs head when she yelled "Squirrel!" Just from the apron, though, she could tell that she worked with fire- perhaps a blacksmith?

"He was good at acting, but I dare say I could do better at pretending to be an English chap. Girls can act, afterall. Like this amazing person here- moi!" The girl with a butterfly mask had retorted, after giving an exaggerated bow. So she was an actor? This group had quite a bit of diversity, looking at everyone.

"Hey, guys? Its nearing 11 o clock at night. Get to bed already, jeez. Are you all a bunch of imsomniacs?" Neko was back again, with a few yawns. She was right though, it was late...

* * *

 _She ran away, from the comfort of a new friend, someone who had understood the whole tale of who they were, under the lie of doing some errands. Cruel, but her own intentions weren't to be spoken to someone innocent. She didn't want to ruin what little kindness he had left. Her true intention, was something personal. Through the marble halls, left and right, she looked to find some trace of the person she searched desperately for. Tonight would be her last chance to find something of her lucky Clover- she'd be damned if she hadn't looked 'till dawn for it. She sprinted through a troublesome maze of corridors, ignoring the silvery glows of light shining through crystal windows, and the threat of getting lost- she had run around this whole area before, while running for her life, and remembered every moment of it, and every route was second nature. Soon, she arrived at the final place she wanted to look for a final memento, as the Witch's Hour struck. The throne room, where she had been there as a normal person once before- well, she didn't want to talk about that in detail. The portraits around her depicted people, 1 of which she knew, and not with a happy memory. That person was one of the people who made her this way, who cut her off. She still held a grudge toward those 6. But those portraits weren't the only paintings here. Behind the throne, where only a Chipmunk mask remained on there, showing the last remains of the past monarch, there was a veil the colour of the wall, barely noticeable to the eye, with its non-stereotypical camouflage. In fact, you could only see the outline of it during the night, where the warm monochrome glows reveal the edges of the hidden opening. Clever, but not clever enough for someone driven by guilt to look for. She took the curtains of the veil apart, to reveal the person who she had loved most, and now had lost forever. The painting was a portrait of a red haired princess, with a colour scheme of blue and green surrounding the work and filling its background with moonlight and the cool breeze. She held her Chipmunk mask in her lap, which had signs of disintegration. Smaller details were there, but hard to see, like a small tear rolling down a cheek, and the barely hidden fake smile the painting's princess wore. The canvas's name was "The Princess of Lies and Regret", a fitting name for it. Realising who it was in the painting, the puppet sat down, and cried. She cried for the memories, and she cried for the loss of the one person who had known her true feelings and had cared. Through the night, she was remembering a time that was dark, with only the two to take care of things._

 _If you were listening, you could hear the sobs of "What have I done?" ringing through the walls._

* * *

 ** _I know that this was extremely short, but this should be the only chapter that will be like this, hopefully. ._._**

 ** _Also, if you're wondering what the parts in italics were...its a side story related to this, explaining a bit more about the history. It will tie in soon with this, and it will introduce a new character, who's the POV with this side story._**

 ** _And finally, I'm taking a short break from this book to deal with life and fix things that have gone kaboom. It should be around a week, and then its back to business. I just ask that no one rage on at me for this._**

 ** _Sorry for any inconvenience._**

 ** _~Armonizzare_**


	6. Equal Knowledge

_**Well, I'm back to business as usual. Letsa go, people.**_

* * *

After the announcement that everyone should get to sleep, she felt as if she should get some sleep. After all, tomorrow was when they'd start to either duel or dance and have it end in ways that...hurt. A lot. She was prepared for pain, though, or she'd have never had come here in the first place.

Not that pain wasn't a worry. Pain had come a lot in past games, especially from the worst part of it. Executions. They were forced to vote up someone who had lost either a duel or a dance match. They had been brutal over the years, and each one different. From electrocution to being squished between walls and even trapped in a room filled with gasoline and a lit torch. Brutal all the while, they were enough to make even the strongest person do a double take. Only desperate people, or people that can be manipulated by greed normally had the strength to come and fight. Question was, what exactly were they fighting for? People who had won, they never came out from the castle. The only way to know was through the mouths of the messengers, who came and went through the castle, rarely seen, but always with news of the games. They were like shadows that carried warnings. They spread out far and wide, bearing warnings of the castle.

Even so, they knew little. What happened after the winners won? Everyone knows they somehow die, but how so? Do they just lose the will to live and let go? How do all the mechanics work? Both of those questions were a mystery, and there were loads more. Small pieces to a puzzle didn't complete it, after all. She had come for answers. And she planned to spread them.

But the gruesome things could wait. Tonight was likely the last peaceful time she'd have, with psycho's and loonies running loose. Someone was bound to crack soon, and she didn't want to be there to witness it.

She trudged up a marble staircase and it stopped on a floor, where there was a single door, with flowing patterns cut into it. Hanging on the doorknob, aswell, was an otter mask. Since there was no one else there, she opened the door.

Her mouth just stood there and hung open at the sight. It was an elegant room, with beautiful patterns of aqua, gold and silver, flowing around the walls like a snake, coiling around again and again. An ornate mirror reflected back the sight, and a happy, sparkly face, even though that's not what she felt.

"Heydoyawannadressupafucker- Woah..." A boy puppet had poked his head through the door. She had forgotten to close it. His face showed the same amount of surprise and wonder that she had felt when she stepped in. He was dressed in a black suit and tie, carrying a tray. Surprisingly fancy.

He was pulling off a cup, which appeared to be stuck on, while cursing like the Ferret. 'These people really need a lesson on manners', she thought. He was grumbling a name, which sounded like the Parrot girl's name- Ariana. He seemed to hate her, as the name was accompanied by "I will kill that puppet when I find her...". He obviously couldn't tell that she was currently trying to hide the fact that she was laughing her ass off.

With a triumphant "Yeah!" he had pulled the cup off of the tray...

And onto the top of his head, spilling hot stuff onto himself, which caused him to scream like a girl and run off, with embarrassment on his face. He had seen her laughing like an idiot then and there. She felt sorry for him, but that was hilarious.

Soon after, he was back, shaking his fist and in a clean outfit. Before anything else he growled, "Tell anyone that this happened between you and me, and I will kill you. Got it?"

She agreed, but someone was going to find out. Especially someone who had had Ariana as their puppet. Gossip could spread like wildfire here, so she probably didn't have to tell anyone in the first place about this for people to start giggling at him.

"Well, sorry for me swearing like a sailor, but that damn prankster needs to learn when enough is enough." He had brightened up considerably, and was even smiling. The 180 in personality was pretty scary, to be honest.

"So, I'm Gareth, the guy who was supposed to introduce the others. Takes a long ass time, so yeah, I didn't. I can answer a few questions, but if its on the history...you're gonna have to talk to someone else."

Her response was pretty curious, and nosy, but she wanted a few answers. "Who are you? You have personalities and all, but you're puppets. Shouldn't puppets be immobile?"

"Don't be rude. And as for that, we're participants from the game...Its pretty awkward, to be honest, and even we don't know a lot. Do you seriously want the story?"

She did, and so he began.

"Well, we participated in the game. You know there's been 16 games before yours, and there's 24 of us. So we're not all winners. Infact, none of us are. We all died at some point, or supposedly we did. We share memories, that's what we know. No recollection of what dying's like though. We're all from the 2-5th game, with the second people being really rare to come out as these sort of puppets. I'm from the 4th game myself, along with Ariana, Rick, Logan, Nelly, Joseph, Melody..and that's about it." He took a deep breath, "We have absolutely no idea how we came to be puppets, but we've watched or closely participated in games. If you want more, talk to the Puppy. His marionette has been here the longest, and she's pretty talkative."

It was a lot of info to take in, and most of it was hard to understand. Probably because the one making the puzzle didn't have all the pieces themselves. And now there was a new mystery to explore and take part in. The Puppy would be someone interesting, given that they were the ones to embarrass him and ridicule him. He won't be too forgiving, probably.

But that was for later. Tomorrow, she was still going to have to learn about the strangers, some of which who she'd never talked to before. She was not looking forward to it at all...


	7. No Going Back

_**We've finished the first act of this, I'll say. Welcome to my act two. Welcome to murder, folks. *giggles like a little girl***_

 _ **One, two, three, now here we go, again...**_

* * *

"Hello! Bastards, get down here, please, to the ballroom. Now!" A voice crackled and rasped, but it soon changed into a clear, feminine voice, then to a angry man's growl. The voice had changed through the motions, and it sounded like 7 voices resounding at once, with the mentioned ones rising above the crescendo.

In the ballroom, a mixed and matched freak sort of person stood. They had a feminine face and upper half, but their torso and below were quite different. The top was a pale face with eyes that changed from the rainbow at different times, sometimes being stuck on green and red. Her mouth changed along with it, from a playful smile to a sadistic grin. She had pretty brown hair, tied into a braid. Her dress was made of two halves. One was a long blue princess like dress, and on the other sort of half, there was a black, flowing cloak. On the bottom, there was even more of a calamity. A quarter of it was simple and clean, jeans, but the other 3 parts...hell. 1 was shorts with jester hats on it, 1 was ripped and torn, and the other...was plain naked.

"Well, well well. Look at these dolts. I think we should introduce ourselves, ain't that right, boys?" The voice spoke with a clear, sort of low voice, that clearly belonged to a boy. That was the one louder than the rest. The eyes had changed to a deep purple, along with it. Maybe the eyes changed with who's voice was going first?

"Fine, but that's my job. I'm Clover, or also known as Joker. Mess with me or the rest of the gang, and you'll never see the light again." The clear, feminine voice was back, with scary green eyes and a sadistic smile.

"Wha-what happened to Neko?" The Giraffe was scared, and she quite literally meant it.

"Oh, that wimpy bitch? I fed her to Puddle." The eyes had changed to a fearless red, and the grin was even wider and even creepier.

One of the puppets, who had tagged along with the Puppy guy, the one who she was going have to try and talk to soon, was looking like she wanted to throw up. "Puddle is kind-kind of a carnivorous rabbit that we hold in the dungeon..." then the pale puppet hid behind the Puppy and refused to come out. Awww, it was cute, but that meant his explanation of who she was was kind of wrong.

And fed Neko to a carnivorous rabbit? That's just fucked up. Seriously fucked up.

"So yeah. I'm Levan, your resident psycho. Me and Clover are the two personalities of us that are here most often. We're only letting our other personalities out for so long just to introduce themselves. Enjoy that."

So she was stuck with two complete wackos. This was not good.

"I'm Silver, your resident-

"Pervert! Oh, sorry for that, she lies her ass off sometimes. I'm Harrison. Those shits can't explain for hell, so lemme tell you about it. We're the people who take charge of this hellhole-oh come on, i know you think about it like that too- and there's a cost. The two sadists will explain that."

The Silver's eyes were a charming orange, with a playful smile on her face. Maybe she wasn't what the other had said. Harrison's were a mystic purple. He seemed to be the kindliest of the lot.

"Hey! Since he spoiled the surprise, let's say it now! We're trapping you here 'till you kill someone! Kill someone and get away with it, will 'cause you to win the game automatically and leave you free to be the ruler!"

One kill and getting away with it leaves them dead? Or at least what that's what she assumed, and that was normally quite close to right. Faces of shock and outrage appeared, and someone had put everyone into a huddle and was whispering furiously.

"How the hell do we stop these freaks?" The doll who had explained about Puddle before was panicking slightly, "And speaking of which, we should at least know eachother a little."

Around her was an Owl and a Panther, both perfectly calm. But the Panther's hair was surprisingly fluffy- the Panther's ponytail had sat itself on her shoulder. Her light green eyes were beautiful and stern. As for the Owl, she was just as pretty. With puffy braids and sleepy aqua eyes, she looked cute and innocent. She was also swinging an old golden watch, with a bizarre pattern carved into it.

No-one had really cared for what the puppet had said, and more than one person had stormed off in a huff. Broken hearted, the puppet walked off, not looking back.

"Oh, before you puppets ignore me...If your master dies, I will be burning the puppet at the stake. It makes for such a _lovely_ sight, doesn't it!" The freak, who had their red eyes back- Levan, the psycho- was exclaiming with a cackle.

Eyes widened and the puppets grew afraid. She wasn't surprised. Death was bad enough, but a slow burning, filled with agony? Ouch.

With that, this palace got at least 10x more fucked up in less than an hour.

"Tell me this is a prank or I fucking feed you to Puddle!" Ariana, the parrot girl, had stood up, and boy, was she pissed. A girl with a Weasel mask was trying to hold her back, evidently sensing that it was a bad idea doing that.

"Listen, kiddo. I know you're batshit crazy, but t _his is not a joke._ You came here to murder eachother, now we've upped the stakes. Still killing people brutally, just more desperation. And if you really want to fuck with us, prepare for a beautiful wall of fire and smoke, " The eyes had dimmed to the crazy green and the monster was obviously angry. "Oh, might as well mention, Puddle's kind of rampaging in the Boy's area, so yeah. You're stuck in the cold for tonight until the idiots manage to round up the rabbit"

None of the boys were impressed with that. First being ridiculed and laughed at, and now more reason to be ridiculed and laughed at, as a rabbit had destroyed a safe area for them. A rabbit. Seriously, that was embarrassing. The girls had the luck, that was for sure.

"Who says we all stay down here? As its not really fair for the boys. And we can play truth or dare!" The Giraffe was at it.

"NO. NO WAY." A common chorus came from less than half of the group, including herself. However, majority had said yes...

This was going to be a long night.

* * *

 **I know I'm introducing more ACC (Author created characters) than actual OC's right now. ._.**

 **And our antagonist is a psycho with different personalities. Took a while to choose between using the carnivorous rabbit as Monokuma for it or this. I think this was the funnier choice, though.**


	8. Sitting and Breathing

The freak had gotten bored by now, and had wandered off, so she sat down reluctantly, and started to play. The puppets had made a rule: "If you refuse to do a truth or dare, you have to put ice cubes down your pants for 10 minutes" Unfair, but seriously. What else as a punishment, but that?

That was harsh, she would admit, but did she and some of the other people have a choice against 13 Truth or Dare lovers? They had around a negative chance.

So, they sat down and chose who to start. It ended up on an excited Butterfly.

"Hey Grizzly! Dare or Dare!" The Butterfly had the first go, and she obviously disregarded any intention of playing fair. What happened to Truth?

"Urgh, fine. Dare. Make it quick."

"Stick ice cubes in your pants for 10 minutes!" The Butterfly was definitely meaner in this game than any other games, if she could be that evil.

With more than a few giggles, he (very reluctantly) stuck the cubes in, and the timer started. He started pretty strong for a while, and by that, she meant 3 minutes. By 4 minutes, 30 seconds, he was panicking, and he clearly wanted to pull them out. But by 5 minutes...he was screaming like a little girl from the ice, and to carry on playing, he was dragged out the room, with the icecubes still in his trousers.

She made a mental note for herself to tell her never to pick Dare when the Butterfly was doing Truth or Dare. The animal in question was rolling around, laughing, with a few disapproving glares from the others, especially the puppets.

"Hey, since the chance of Grizzly doing it is gone, I call shotgun. Otter, truth or dare?" Giraffe had called, and the reason why this game was hated in her mind resurfaced. Dare being an option was out, given that Giraffe was likely going to be worse than 10 minutes for the ice cubes. So, only the one was...truth. Either way, that was never going to end nicely.

This was why she hated this god damn game.

"Truth. Trusting you, of all people, is a bad idea.."

"Aw, weenie! But still, you did make the right choice, I would have made you do Grizzly's, but for an hour," The Giraffe was disappointed, but phew, it was the correct choice. 10 minutes is bad enough, from what she saw, but multiplying that by 6? Bad idea. Really bad idea.

"So, truth. Who would you kiss, out of everyone in the room?" Oh great. Oh fucking great. She barely knew anyone here, and she had to admit this shit?

"Puppy, because he tried to soak you. You deserved a good soaking."

That had an awkward reaction. From the two party animals, a loud "I ship it!" resounded through the room. Puppy himself was blushing, and maybe he was even a little proud of himself as well. The others- they were just wolf whistling. Typical.

Now, it was her turn. Who to choose, who to choose? Hmmm, maybe the person who had so effortlessly glided along before, remaining a beautiful enigma?

"Fox, Truth, or Dare?" The Fox had a nonexistent expression on her face. By the looks of it, she did not even react at all. Weird.

"Dare. Get it over with quickly, if you please. "She was not expecting that answer. Damn, she wanted a truth out of her. Still, she had to improvise, whether she liked it or not. And what better than just letting go and being a rude little 12 year old again?

"Call Nelly a raging homosexual" She was not impressed with herself for that, but oh god, with what she saw of Nelly's temper, this would be otterly hilarious...

She earned a 'Seriously?' glare from the Fox, and another puppet dragged Nelly into the room. She was mad. Fuming mad, already. Whether she had heard the events of the game, or she was mad at somebody else, they would have to find out.

"You are a raging homosexual, Nelly." Well, she had done it. Nelly's face changed from rage, to pure embarrassment? What?

"...How the hell did you?" That was all that came out of the little puppet, who had smacked the Fox across the face and ran off.

Complete silence. The people around her thought the exact same- that was not in the funny sense at all. Infact, that was a bitchy move of hers.

"Deer, truth or dare?" The clear call of the Fox rang out.

The Deer was shocked. Even worse, he did not seem to know the rules of Truth or Dare, apparently. It was cute though.

"T-truth?" A small smirk appeared on the Fox's face. Oh god, this would not be good. Especially with the Deer.

"With the freak's rules, would you murder someone to get out of here?" Oh god, she had to remind us of that bullshit. Murdering someone to get the rest of us killed. It was kind of pointless, but upping the stakes had got the tension higher- for about five seconds. Then the fact that the carnivorous rabbit had mauled the boy's tower just cracked people up.

"N-no! Why would I?" He seemed to be honest, and she, personally, hated the fact that she was stuck in the same choice as well. . If she were going to kill, she would do it in a painless way. Or the closest thing to painless she could get. However, a puppet's mouth made the silent words 'Bullshit' and glared at the Deer. Bullshit, what he had said? Strange, but she'd put it aside for now.

By now, the ten minutes were up, and the Grizzly Bear was back, strangely calm, despite what the Butterfly had done. He sat down, peacefully, and stuck his fingers in his ears to defend himself from any questions. She did not blame the guy at all.

* * *

 _ **DISCLAIMER: With the raging homosexual dare, I do not mean any offense to gay or lesbian people. They're close to immature teens, so things like that will come up. :3**_

 ** _Ending on a lighter note...Puppy x Otter, anyone? Anyone? (I'm so going to love writing this fanfiction. *heh*) Eh, I have a few ships up at the canon._**

 _ **~Armonizzare**_


	9. Dauntless, or Rash?

_**Well, you liked the first TOD. There's more laughs now. And more being stupid, but that's not the** **point**_...

 _ **And I like Potter myself...don't skewer me HP fans. ;3**_

* * *

"Rabbit, Truth or D-dare?" The Deer had nice timing, she could see.

"Dare, bring it on." The Rabbit had took this all in her stride, and was pretty cocky. Who knows what he could do? Well, not much- she hated to be rude, but with his actions, he probably didn't have anything too evil or mean up his sleeve. Unless he was a really good liar, but she heavily doubted that theory. Still, she was glad she was on he receiving end only once.

"Go into the boy's tower and cuddle Puddle, that rabbit."

Awwww, cute. But kind of dangerous. From what they knew, Puddle was a carnivorous rabbit. Cuddling him would probably be equal to saying that you want to be eaten and your bones spat out. And wouldn't that mean the Deer was indirectly responsible for Rabbit's death, and could kill them all? But they did say you'd have to get away with it, and accusations would come from left, right and center later. What was the guy thinking? She didn't know, but she was not impressed with the dare.

The others didn't care about that. Infact, they were just content with watching and laughing at the impending doom.

"No. Don't. I'm NOT getting dressed up or eaten."

Despite the Rabbit's protests, the others had started up a chant of 'DO IT. DO IT!" Even the puppets agreed not to make her dress up or worse, even if she'd look cute in a costume. That comment earned a puppet a kick in the balls. Not sure why the Rabbit would react that badly- a kick in the balls is probably the worst thing you can do to a boy. Ouch.

Soon, she actually got up the guts to go in, with two heads poking in to watch her (namely the Giraffe and the Butterfly).

The others made some small talk about if the Rabbit would make it out alive. If those people chose her fate, she'd be dead. Not very many people thought that she would have hope.

However, after a while, the door opened, and out came a large, spotted bunny- and the Rabbit, hugging it. It was like puppy love, except with rabbits. And it wasn't eating her, which made it nice to watch as well. She sat down, stroking the bunny, and the bunny was nuzzling her.

She didn't think it was luck- she thought that the bunny had assumed she was another bunny by the mask. That bunny was clearly stupid anyway, to be honest. But she could understand why people wanted them to stay out of the way of it. Stupid monsters _are_ worse than smart ones. However much logic defies the possibility, the Rabbit was enjoying it, so it just seemed cruel to point out that she was cuddling something that could very well eat her and the rest of the people around her for breakfast.

"Hey, Sparrow? Truth or Dare?"

The Sparrow had a snarky grin on her face, and an evil sparkle in her eyes. She was obviously looking forward for this. But, not everyone was. Some people, like the Panther and the Deer were snoring perfectly happily on the floor, having collapsed from need of sleep. She herself was pretty damn tired

"Picking 'Dare' is for wimps. Truth. Bring it on. ."

"Alright. Do you always feel the need to be a bitch about everything or are you just a little twerp?"

"Neither. Lets move on quickly then." The Sparrow displayed a grin of confidence, as she had just took the insult in her stride. It was a nice trait to have, that. But, she would be feeling the insult inside, wouldn't she? Nobody could laugh off all the insults in the world, even if they had the best poker face in the world.

"Hey! That gothic puppet who ran away? Truth or Dare?" Ooh, creative. She wasn't technically part of the game, but who said that was a rule? No one. The only silent rule was not to be overly racist or sexist. The punishment would be, in her opinion, to put the ice cubes in your pants for an hour, like the Giraffe tried to do.

"A choice for 'Fuck off', kiddo?" The lotitia had come back, and she wasn't in a happy mood, obviously. If this was a cartoon, the puppet would probably have an overly exaggerated red face and steam blowing out of her ears. It also would've made the scene way more comedic than what was happening right now.

But what confused her the most was the fact that it was just a simple game, and people were at eachothers throats. If this carried on, maybe the challenge to murder that the freak had issued may come true. She didn't want to think about that, but that did keep crossing her mind. Who would murder? Who would be that desperate to get out? They've gotten along for now, but could it be a facade? A facade covered by secrets and lies. Speaking of which, she had remembered that she needed to talk to the Puppy...and she had wasted a chance to get some answers out of him, using a truth on her turn. She regretted her decision, but she knew she wouldn't waste it once more. After all, there may be just this one last dance with the chance to learn new things.

It was all she could do to sit and watch the puppet and the Sparrow fight like two cats over a fish, and just be there, not changing anything. But that was for now. She could make a change, and hopefully reveal something.

Right now, she'll grin and bear staring through a mobilised doll with a watergun versus Someone who was stuck in a wheelchair. It was obvious who'd win, so there was no point in paying attention.

Instead, she thought of a world where they all just got along. One where they could just play a normal game of truth or dare, without risks of killing yourself. With dares like, "Kiss someone, Fox " and truth's like, "Who're you crushing on?"

That'd be a nice place to live in, compared to here.


	10. Who Are You Inside?

_**"I believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage to stand up for another"**_

 _ **A short summary for this chapter.**_

* * *

Floods of questions rung the ears of the Grizzly Bear, but he listened to not one. All he did there was sit there, oblivious to the others.

She listened to none either. As the game continued on, others laughed, and cried, and had their fun. She just thought about a world where none of the tragedies they've all witnessed had ever happened. Theydnall be completely different people through and through, in the end. With where she was now, if someone gave her the choice to remove any tragedies that had happened, she wouldn't know what to say.

But soon, the darkness dragged her into a world, filled with the stories of others. It was filled with the memories people hated most.

* * *

 _Stuck in the meadows of the past, she wandered. Beautiful flowers bloomed brightly over a sorrowful corpse that she had once known and had loved. It hurt to see the flowers cross over the corpse, but she had not long ago seen those very flowers after the tragedy that had both ruined her family, and had given her the future she now walked._

 _The last road trip with her father had ended in disaster. This was the same day, the same time, but she went through it like a spectator. She even saw her own scared self running, with the cut along her neck, and she also saw the other people fading away into the shadows. They were all ashamed somewhat, her the most. She could've done something, yet she had only ran away._

 _With a swirl, she then saw three roses, one pink, one a pale peach, and one blue, like the sea. . The pink one's petals fell off slowly, revealing a face of her father, smiling and waving at her. Then, he was gone like the wind._

 _After the roses disappeared, she fell into an old bar. It was lively, cull of singing, and it reminded her of her own talent of music. She'd have loved to have joined in with the beautiful tune, but the instruments just faded in her hands._

 _Someone was performing a magic trick, fairly simple, just the rabbit out of the hat. The magician was a young boy, who had a face familiar to her- the face of a Puppy masked man. He had pulled it off amazingly, but the crowd cheered someone else's name. Mika's. Over time, the boy looked more downhearted. The person named Mika had come to his defense, but to no avail. For a while later, the boy had grown older, being half recognised, and she then saw his face in front of the place she was in, with hope that he's be recognised, finally, for what he had done. He had hoped for the name "Yuuma" to be known for who he really was._

 _The roses appeared again, and the peach one melted to reveal Mika's face, cool and comforting. Was this really why the Puppy had come to this place?_

 _Finally, it faded to the story of the blue rose..._

 _All she saw was nothing._

 _She only saw someone holding their heart out, betrayed, while someone smiled in the distance, with a plated smile, and hair like a buning fire. She couldn't make out her face or their eyes. All she knew about those eyes is that they burned with a loathing, as if to say "You are not welcome here". She didn't feel as if she was, either._

But then, she saw the heart was flying into her face, slamming her square in the stomach...

* * *

With a final glimpse of the world of the story she was witnessing, she opened her eyes to tears. And someone hitting her head with a boot, but that wasnt strange, given that other people had boot marks on their faces. They were also extremely unhappy with the Crow, who was explaining that he had woken them up to let them know of the scene that had occurred. He just pointed to the side, and they got the full force of it face first.

The Giraffe was holding someone's hand, clinging onto it like a lifeline, with a few watery stains on her face. She then noticed that the hand she was holding onto was weak and lifeless, with there being only one conclusion to what had happened.

Someone had lost it. Someone had ruined the night.

The hand belonged to a corpse, with a smiling face, even with two knives riddled in her front and back, with the blood dry and crispy across a breezy light blue dress. The other hand laid across her chest, with a simple item drawn with her own blood. It could seem that she could be pushed down a river to a love song, as peaceful as she looked. The girl deserved to be buried in satin, and left at somewhere peaceful at the first rays of sun. She had done nothing wrong.

However, the beauty of her peacefulness came at a cost. There'd be no more bad jokes, no more lighthearted humor, and no more being friendly to one-another. Paranoia would still come, and still, she was worrying over the cost of these people's lives. Now that her worst fear had come true, what was next?

But still, even the Giraffe had a twinkle in her eye, as she held the hand up high, and smiled. She had lost someone she could have called a friend, yet she wouldn't let that get her down. That was admirable of her, what she could go through with hope.

Finally, the shock of it all had just hit her like a sledgehammer. Someone in this room had murdered the girl in cold blood, and they would have to pay the price. She didn't want to, but from what she knew, the killer had to have recieved fair judgement, or they all die. And the punishment must fit the crime- wouldn't the punishment be death for themselves? With that theory, it felt sadder. They'd have to take 2 lives instead of none.

There was one thing she knew for sure. The Butterfly will be avenged. 


	11. Listen To Me

_**Sorry for it being late. This has not been given up on. It may just take longer.**_

* * *

First thing she noticed after that, was a laughing little princess, dressed in green. It was still night, and the ballroom had windows, which cast a dark sort of glow to the room, but, candles were everywhere. It was easy to see that the smile on her face was cold, and it bore a resemblance to the sadistic smile of the freak from before.

She had an unusually fancy voice for someone who looked so young, but she had it all the same.

"So, one of you people decided to off another. Lovely."

Shock exploded through the others faces. This was lovely? How could it be? Someone just got murdered, for Christ's sake!

"Now, shortly, they'll be a trial. Who killed the stupid idiot down here? You decide! Just don't get it wrong, for lords sake. This person made a horribly sloppy job of it. "

The princess had struck a nerve. A nerve on the last person that she would've expected.

"Don't you dare disrespect the dead. Don't you fucking dare." Someone had stepped out from behind the princess. It was somebody she hadn't seen before, and boy, was he mad. His Coyote mask was threatening to fall off his face, and he was pointing a knife at the girl.

"Oh, I dare. Anyway, I'll be seeing you maggots in the trial room after an hour. Have fun." The princess, completely ignoring the fact that the Coyote was pointing a knife at her chest, which would've ended in her dead in a similar fashion to Butterfly, had opened a portrait and skipped down it. The Coyote had rushed to the same portrait and tugged at it, but it wouldn't budge. He ended up saying a few curse words.

Where had he come from? She didn't know. But he was going to have a lot of questions. A lot. In her opinion, given that he obviously knew of where some knives could be collected, he was a likely suspect.

Who was confirmed innocent, now? _Herself, the Panther, the Deer, the Grizzly Bear, and the Sparrow._ From what she knew, all of the 5 were asleep before the murder occurred. Next, it was time to deal with _t_ he weapon (or weapons in this case). They were a pair of kitchen knives- she didn't know of where they could be collected. Something to ask the Coyote.

Time for any alibi's. The Fox had confirmed being in the Girl's Tower after she fell asleep, exploring the paintings, along with the Rabbit. Both had reported to have found nothing of too much interest. Of course, they could be accomplices, but it was unlikely the two would have tried a risky plan like that.

* * *

 _After the night, she came out to play again. Fox, she knew, had learned a bit too much. She had delved too far in the castle's mystery. It was time to stop her progress._

 _Using the secret Music Room portrait, she blocked the corridor to the room as best as possible. If the Fox had gotten into here, the whole past would've been revealed. It was too early for that._

 _From behind, she heard a scream. It was feminine, and it sounded like a wimp. Was it Puppy? No, he can scream like a girl, but not that realistically. It had to have been one of the girls. Hopefully it was Fox. She couldn't take any chances, however._ _Sealing up the rest of the room, she left it, and returned to her instruments. She had left the warning on the flute, and for hell, someone noticed. Someone had to have noticed. But they weren't taking action. She would have to leave another. But make it a puzzle._

 _Deciding on it, she picked up another, old violin, and left a letter from her, with the words saying another warning. The danger was too great to be ignored this time._

 _"Someone knows more than they claim to know._

 _Someone has found more than they claim to have found._

 _And someone is hiding more than they meant to hide._

 _The truth is in the room. The truth is with the music. "_

 _She hoped they'd take action. And, if the Puppy was stupid enough to be fooled once more, she'd be waiting for them._

 _Trying to leave the note in the ballroom again, she found a sight that was not to be witnessed. The Butterfly had their corpse on the ground, with a shadow running. Two others were also in the room. It was too obvious to leave it now._

 _Another time, when they're in the trial room. When she can lead them to who is really behind this mess. Herself. _


End file.
